diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 81c7f52d9c..af0b735b82 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ NEWS: \
 	    $(srcdir)/docs/news.xml \
 	  >$@-tmp \
 	    || { rm -f $@-tmp; exit 1; }; \
-	  $(srcdir)/docs/reformat-news.py $@-tmp >$@ \
+	  $(PYTHON) $(srcdir)/docs/reformat-news.py $@-tmp >$@ \
 	    || { rm -f $@-tmp; exit 1; }; \
 	  rm -f $@-tmp; \
 	fi